1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to automatic telephone dialing and message transmission apparatus enabling emergency messages to be transmitted without any effort on the part of the user.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,662,111 (Rubenstein) depicts a telephone care system that automatically dials a succession of predetermined telephone numbers in the event the user of the system is incapacitated or otherwise unable to reach the telephone system to disable it within a predetermined time after initation of an alarm signal. The system includes a twenty-four hour timer which may be pre-set to initiate the alarm signal several times a day and also allows for manual triggering of the automatic dialing unit in the event of an emergency. It is designed to operate in conjunction with a two-track tape player for reproducing a prerecorded tape having one track containing 1,000 Hz tones simulating dial tones of preselected telephone numbers and having a second track containing at least one voice message. No provision is provided for enabling the user to modify either the selected telephone numbers or the message.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,843,841 (Rubenstein) depicts an improved system which provides a portable remote radio transmitter and a receiver within a base station. A timer for providing the alarm signal is located within the remote unit which can be disabled by the user to prevent the transmission of the alarm signal to the base station which otherwise would cause the automatic dialing and message playback.
Another automatic telephone alarm system depicted in U.S. Pat. No. 3,989,900 (Dibner) provides for automatic dialing of preselected telephone numbers and the playback of prerecorded messages in the event the user does not use his telephone over a 24-hour or shorter period. I.e., each time the telephone is used, a timer in the system is automatically reset, thus preventing the production of an alarm until such time at the telephone is not used over a period greater than that selected. All such systems, operate in conjunction with a tape player containing a record pre-encoded with both preselected telephone numbers and preselected messages and make no provision allowing the user to select or modify such data.